


Step 1: Become a Jaeger Pilot

by LittleMusket



Series: How To Save The World [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Chuck Hansen Lives, LGBTQ Character, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Stacker Pentecost Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22487785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMusket/pseuds/LittleMusket
Summary: April 20, 2019 - April 13, 2020Since the first kaiju attack in 2012, hundreds of people have come forward to train and pilot giant robots called Jaegers. One of those people is Malley Eskridge, a farm girl from Oregon. After her father was killed on K-Day, Malley’s life fell into turmoil. When the PPDC and the Jaeger Program are created, she decides that piloting is her calling.Written with OCs from WaywardLeviathan.
Series: How To Save The World [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617970





	Step 1: Become a Jaeger Pilot

**April 20, 2019**

**Ashland, Oregon**

**0600 Hours**

Malley listened as the cock crew his morning greeting. The sun had not yet risen, but would soon, and Malley’s mother, Trish, would wake and begin making breakfast in the kitchen.

Malley woke up early every morning; 5:45 to be exact. She would get dressed, throw on her work boots, and head out to the barn to feed the horses. She would muck the stalls and, on her way back to the house, feed the chickens and collect any eggs that were lain. For any other 17 year old, that would seem like an overwhelming chore. Malley, however, was accustomed to the work; her father, now passed, worked for a major farmer in Ashland and woke up at 5:45 with Malley each morning and helped with chores before leaving for work. Her mother was a nurse at Ashland Hospital.

The horses nickered at Malley as she poured grain into the trough in each stall. The Eskridge family owned three horses; a bay named Elliot, a chestnut named Anne, and a black named Oscar. They were most often used to hasten the trip to the furthest ends of their property, but in her younger days, Malley was a competitive barrel racer. You can’t get very competitive when you’re a 7-year-old on a big black gelding or a mare that wants nothing more than to graze, but Malley had loved it.

After feeding the horses, Malley refilled their water troughs and opened the gates to the pasture for the horses to go when they pleased. Grabbing a pitchfork from the rack, Malley took a moment to look out at the sunrise before going back to her work.

When she finished, Malley grabbed handfuls of chicken feed and walked out to the coop, tossing the seed on the ground as she went. The chickens flocked from the coop and pecked away, and Malley went in to search the nests. The chickens hadn’t lain anything this morning, which was fine as there were still enough eggs in the kitchen for breakfast. Malley saw the kitchen light flick on and left the chickens to their breakfast, hiking back up the yard to the house.

“Good morning, Mama!” Malley called, slipping her boots off and leaving them by the door. She sniffed at the air, her mouth watering. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Blueberry pancakes,” Trish answered. “With eggs and bacon.”

“Ohh, perfect.” Malley smiled, sitting down at the bar.

“Anything from the PPDC?” Trish asked, flipping over a pancake. She popped a blueberry in her mouth and looked over at Malley with inquisitive eyes.

“Not yet. It should be coming soon.”

The two ate breakfast in relative silence. Trish would occasionally prod Malley for updates from school, friends, anything. Malley would respond, then shovel food into her mouth. At 7, Trish collected the dishes, rinsed them, and put them in the dishwasher, and went to get ready for work. Malley returned to her room and dressed for the day; ripped jeans, a t-shirt, and some beat-up black chucks. She slung her backpack over her shoulder, grabbed her keys, and headed downstairs.

“Bye, Mama!”

“Bye! Have a good day!” Trish called, slipping on her shoes and clipping on her nametag.

“Try not to kill Doc Dake.”

“No promises!” Trish huffed, standing up straight.

Malley danced off the porch stairs and walked out to her truck; a gorgeous red and white 1993 Chevy 1500. She tossed her bag in the passenger seat and turned the key in the ignition, and the truck roared to life. Throwing the truck into drive, Malley rolled down the driveway and out onto the road, headed in the direction of Ashland.

  
  


Malley’s truck rumbled back up the road at 3:26 that afternoon. She pulled up to the mailbox before turning into the driveway and grabbed all the mail and tossed it next to her bag in the passenger seat. Trish wasn’t home and wouldn’t be until after 5, so Malley took everything inside. She set the mail on the kitchen counter and toted her bag to her room, and then returned downstairs to sort through the mail.

_ To Trish Eskridge.  _ Bills, bills, a weird women’s magazine. Malley tossed Trish’s mail into a pile.

_ To Malley Eskridge. _ The University of Oregon. The University of Washington. Kansas State University? Pan Pacific Defense Corps.

Pan Pacific Defense Corps?

Malley tore the envelope open and flicked through the letter, skimming the text for that fateful word: accepted. And there it was!

_ Malley Eskridge, _

_ We would like to thank you for your application to the Pan Pacific Defense Corps Jaeger Training Program. You have been  _ **_accepted_ ** _. Congratulations! _

_ Your term will begin on May 1st. You will train alongside other candidates from across the United States and have the opportunity to meet current Jaeger pilots, tour Shatterdomes, and learn from scientists studying kaiju, jaeger technicians, and Shatterdome personnel. _

_ Report to Kodiak Island Welcome Center by May 1st. Attached is a list of recommended items to bring. _

_ Together, we can end this war. _

“Hey, Siri!” Malley shouted.

_ Ding ding. _

“Call Mama...work.”

“ _ Calling Mama - Work.” _

Trish seemed a little unenthused when Malley told her she was accepted into the Jaeger Training Program. Malley knew what it meant; she would have to get up earlier and do the farm chores herself. She would be all alone on that farm.

“Actually, I was just talking to Aunt Margo the other day. She said that she’d be fine with bringing her stuff out to the house and helping me for a while. Her contract for her apartment is about to end anyway, and her dogs get a little stir crazy in that tiny little place.”

“Oh!” Malley exclaimed. “I love Margo.”

“Yeah!” Trish laughed.

So it was settled, then. Margo would come to the farm and live with Malley and Trish, and take Malley’s place when she left. After the call, Malley went upstairs to start on her homework. Her heart nearly stopped when she realized she would have to leave school, and literally two months before graduation. Not like she would learn anything drastically important in these last months that she wouldn’t already be learning in the program. Besides, all of her classes were college level. She was basically a college freshman as a high school senior.

Everything would be alright.


End file.
